International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(11), pp.

509-516, 2014
Available online at http://www.ijsrpub.com/ijsrk
ISSN: 2322-4541; 2014; Author(s) retain the copyright of this article
http://dx.doi.org/10.12983/ijsrk-2014-p0509-0516

Full Length Research Paper

Assessment of Environmental Stress as Meteorological Drought Due to Rainfall
Variability in Jaipur, Rajasthan (India)
Pushpendra Singh Rajpoot1*, Ajay Kumar2
1

Research Scholar and #HOD of Physical Science, India

Department of Physical Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodaya Vishwavidyalaya, Chitrakoot, M.P. (485334),
India
*Correspondence Author: Email: prajpoot179@gmail.com

Received 1 October 2014; Accepted 14 November 2014

Abstract. Rainfall variability with time and space plays a crucial role in agricultural and other planning as drinking water
supply. Jaipur, district of Rajasthan state is facing the problem of rainfall variation at monthly, seasonal and annual time scales.
The present study covers rainfall and remotely sensed data to analyze the drought intensity and frequency during 1957 to 2012
to find out environmental stress as meteorological drought. Drought intensity is determined by suggested criteria of Indian
Meteorological Department (IMD) and find out the drought frequency. Monthly rainfall is not good for agricultural activity
and more than 60-% months of a calendar year have droughts. Seasonal rainfall is normal but post monsoon season is suffering
with frequent drought which is more than 60-%. Annual rainfall is good and cyclic for crop saving and 70-% years have
normal rainfall ( 25-% from normal rainfall) and rest of 30-% moderate to severe drought. NDVI is showing the effect of no,
mild and severe drought on vegetation. Rainfall data shows that Jaipur witness almost one drought decade and adjacent high
rainfall decade. It is expected that this is a heavy rainfall decade and suggested to rain water harvesting to utilize as pre sowing
and crop saving irrigation for succeeding Rabi crops.
Keywords: Environmental stress, Meteorological Drought, Rainfall variability, Drought intensity, NDVI and Jaipur

Lakhimpur district of Assam. Rajpoot and Kumar

(2013) studied meteorological drought using rainfall
data in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. Sinha
(1986) and Ray et al. (1987) studied drought
occurrence at Gopalpur station, Odisha.
Kumar and Kumar (1989), Dabral (1996) analyzed
weekly, monthly, seasonal and yearly rainfall data for
drought situation at Pantnagar and Ranchi station
respectively. Tiwari et al. (2007) characterize the
meteorological drought indices using the daily rainfall
data of Hazaribagh station. Similar meteorological
drought analysis was done by various researchers
Ramdas and Malick (1948); Sharma et al. (1979);
Dhar et al. (1979) for various stations in India.

1. INTRODUCTION
The accessibility of rainfall is not well distributed at
all the place and time. There is a large variation of
rainfall distribution observed from time to time & year
to year on same place and place to place in India
(Dhar et al., 1979). In India nearly 75-% of the annual
rainfall comes from monsoon season (June to
September). Kharif crops still remains depend upon
the rainfall during the monsoon season. There are
many methods available which can be applied for
analysis of meteorological drought using rainfall data
(Erol Keskin et al., 2011; Asati 2012, Lala Ray et al.,
2012), using rainfall and mean air temperature data
(Dash et al., 2012) and using rainfall and NDVI data
(Rulinda et al., 2012). Meteorological drought is the
condition when a region receives less than half the
amount of normal precipitation (IMD 1971). The
meteorological drought analysis is mostly done based
on point rainfall data as reported by several
researchers earlier. Sharma et al., (1979.a, 1987.b and
1987.c) analyzed the rainfall for crop planning to
overcome drought like scenario. Shrivastava et al.,
(2008) assessed meteorological droughts in North

1.2. Study Area

Jaipur is a major city and district of Rajsthan state
India. Urban area falls between North latitudes 26
47 to 27 02 and East longitudes 75 36 to 75 55
and situated almost in the centre of the district (Map
1). It covers an area of about 470 sq. km. The Jaipur
urban has the parts of Sanganer (45.5%), Jhotwara
(42.5%) and Amer (12%) blocks. Jhotwara block

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Rajpoot and Kumar

Assessment of Environmental Stress as Meteorological Drought Due to Rainfall Variability in Jaipur, Rajasthan
(India)

which constitutes the major part of the urban city has

a population density of 2745 persons/sq. km.
Physiographically the city area is characterized by
sandy-plains, hills, intermountain-valleys, pediments
etc. Major part of the city is covered by the alluvial
sandy plains. In the northern and eastern parts, the
Aravalli Hill Ranges, trending north east-south west
alternating with intermountain-valleys, constitute
significant signatures of physiographic. There is no
major river drainage system in the Jaipur Urban Area.
The Amanishah Nalla and associated streamlets are
ephemeral in nature and merge with the Dhund River,
a tributary of Morel River (out of urban area).
The summer in Jaipur is very hot while winters are
extremely cold. The maximum temperature rises up to

47 C in May. Heat wave prevails for a few days in

the season, when day temperature rises to 4 6 C
above normal. The winter minimum temperature
remains about 4 9 C and falls below 0 C or so
when chilly wind (northerly) blow from Himalayan
region. The monsoon rainfall, which contributes about
90% of the total annual rainfall, extends from June to
September. July and August are the wettest months.
Rainfall is very irregular and uneven time to time and
place to place in short area. Recent studies show that
Jaipur is facing the problem of depleting of water
level from last few decades (CGWB, 2006; Jethoo and
Poonia, 2011).

Table 1: Drought codification based on percentage departure of rainfall from long term normal value (IMD, 1971)
Percentage departure of rainfall from normal
0.0 or above
0.0 to -25.0
-25.0 to - 50.0
-50.0 to -75.0
-75.0 to less

Intensity of drought
No drought
Mild drought
Moderate drought
Severe drought
Extreme drought

Code
M0
M1
M2
M3
M4

1. The percentage of deviation (Di) is then used to

categories the drought.
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
is used to create a uniform and comparable spectral
response image for April 1990 (mild drought), 2000
(moderate drought) and 2010 (no drought). This
technique has been used successfully with LANDSAT
TM data (Resolution 30 meters, Sader, 1993). The
plan was to detect changes by subtracting the NDVI
of one date from the other date (Jensen, 1986). We
first looked at the original data to see which bands
were changing the most between dates and therefore
select these bands to place into the NDVI. Based on
this analysis and consistent with traditional methods,
we selected TM Band 3 (red visible) and TM Band 4
(near-infrared) for input to the NDVI, calculated as:

2. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY

The present study incorporates the rainfall data and
satellite image to analyze the meteorological drought
in Jaipur district, Rajasthan. Rainfall data of last
decades (since 1957 to 2012) which is taken from
India Meteorological Department (1971) Pune, is used
for analyze of drought frequency and drought
intensity (IMD 1971; Tiwari et al., 2007). Historical
events of drought in Jaipur are also used for this study
which is obtained from Agricultural Statistics Year
Book of Jaipur published by Jaipur Bureau of
Statistics. Drought month: the actual rainfall is less
than 50% of the average monthly rainfall (Sharma et
al., 1979). Drought season: the annual rainfall is
deficient by more than twice the mean deviation of the
season (Marathe et al., 2001). Drought year: the
annual rainfall is deficient by 20-60% of the average
annual rainfall and if the deficient is more than 60%
of the average yearly rainfall it is known as scanty
drought year (Dhar et al., 1979). The yearly intensity
of drought was also determined using the criteria
suggested by IMD which is based on the percentage
deviation of rainfall from its long term mean and it is
given by (Eq).

Or

This index is highly correlated with green biomass

(Lillesand and Kiefer, 1987) having large values when
green biomass is high (high reflectance and therefore
high DN in TM band 4 and low in band 3) and small
values when green biomass is low (low reflectance
and therefore low DN in TM band 4 and high in band
3).
Drought codification based on percentage
departure of rainfall from normal is presented in Table
1. The percentage of deviation (Di) is then used to
categories the meteorological drought.

where Di is the percentage deviation from the

long-term mean; Pi is the annual rainfall, mm and is
the long term mean of the annual rainfall, mm
Drought codification based on percentage
departure of rainfall from normal is presented in Table

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International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(11), pp. 509-516, 2014

Map 1: Location map of study area

point of view of precipitation and mean rainfall is

537.01 mm. Drought frequency is also negligible
which is three times only. Maximum seasonal rainfall,
1036 mm occurred in monsoon of 1977 and minimum
170 mm occurred in monsoon of 2002. Post monsoon
season is suffered by drought and lake of humidity.
Mean post monsoonal rainfall is 22.04 mm and
drought frequency is more than 50 % which is 33
times (Table 3). Annual rainfall data of Jaipur is
categories in to four categories on the basis of rainfall
deficit and drought intensity as M0 (No drought), M1
(Mild drought), M2 (Moderate drought) and M3
(Severe drought, Table 4). Data shows those
maximum years having the no drought to mild
drought condition which is 49 and 21-% respectively.
Highest annual rainfall, 1084.2 mm occurred in 2012.
Moderate drought is less and found in 14 years (Table
5). Severe drought is negligible and only found in 2
years which is a normal natural cycle. Minimum
rainfall 269.7 mm occurred in 1969 and 306 mm in
2009 follow-up.

3. RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS

Monthly rainfall data of Jaipur city shows that
maximum part, 90-% of annual rainfall comes from
monsoon season (from June to September, Table 2).
July and August are the wettest month and have the
minimum drought frequency 8 and 16 respectively.
Highest mean monthly rainfall, 210 mm occurred in
August and 200 mm in July follow-up. June and
September are the starting and ending month of
monsoon season respectively and have the normal
rainfall 52.76 & 72.66 mm respectively. Oct, Nov,
Dec, Jan, Feb and Mar are very dry months of a
calendar year and mean maximum rainfall of these
months is 7.56 in Oct and mean minimum is 2.64 mm
in Nov and drought frequency in these months are 74,
85, 72, 68, 70 and 72 respectively (Table 2).
Annual calendar of Jaipur is divided in to three
seasons according to precipitation as Pre-monsoon,
Monsoon and Post monsoon. Pre monsoon has normal
rainfall (36.84 mm) and drought frequency is also less
only 30-%. Monsoon season is very prosperous in the

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Rajpoot and Kumar

Assessment of Environmental Stress as Meteorological Drought Due to Rainfall Variability in Jaipur, Rajasthan
(India)
Table 2: Monthly drought analysis of a calendar year of Jaipur city
Sl No

Months

Rainfall (mm)

Drought Frequency

JAN

6.37

3.19

36

Percent
Drought
Months
68

FEB

7.58

3.79

37

70

MAR

3.35

1.67

38

72

APR

4.74

2.37

36

68

MAY

14.81

7.40

30

57

JUN

52.76

26.38

23

43

JUL

200.76

100.38

15

AUG

210.84

105.42

16

30

SEP

72.66

36.33

18

34

10

OCT

15.11

7.56

39

74

11

NOV

2.64

1.32

45

85

12

DEC

4.29

2.15

38

72

Monthly Mean

Half of Monthly Mean

Table 3: Seasonal drought analysis of a calendar year of Jaipur city

Season

Rainfall (mm)

Drought Frequency

Percent
Seasons

Seasonal Mean

Half of Seasonal Mean

Pre-monsoon

36.84

18.42

18

34

Monsoon

537.01

268.51

Post-monsoon

22.04

11.02

33

62

Fig. 1: Annual drought intensity of Jaipur city

Table 4: Annual drought analysis of Jaipur city
Sl No

Years

Rainfall pp

Drought Intensity

894.2

Percentage Deviation
(Di)
47.28

No drought

Drought
Codification
M0

1957

2
3

1958

567.2

-6.58

Mild drought

M1

1959

413.8

-31.84

Moderate drought

M2

1960

413.8

-31.84

Moderate drought

M2

1961

713.7

17.55

No drought

M0

1962

541.9

-10.75

Mild drought

M1

1963

637.9

5.07

No drought

M0

512

Drought

International Journal of Scientific Research in Knowledge, 2(11), pp. 509-516, 2014

1964

861.6

41.91

No drought

M0

1967

613

0.97

No drought

M0

10

1968

408.2

-32.77

Moderate drought

M2

11

1969

269.7

-55.58

Severe drought

M3

12

1970

822.2

35.42

No drought

M0

13

1971

979.5

61.33

No drought

M0

14

1972

345.3

-43.13

Moderate drought

M2

15

1973

762.2

25.54

No drought

M0

16

1974

645.7

6.35

No drought

M0

17

1975

982

61.74

No drought

M0

18

1976

589.8

-2.86

Mild drought

M1

19

1977

1036

70.64

No drought

M0

20

1978

1022.2

68.36

No drought

M0

21

1979

545.5

-10.15

Mild drought

M1

22

1980

465

-23.41

Mild drought

M1

23

1981

804.1

32.44

No drought

M0

24

1982

620.5

2.20

No drought

M0

25

1983

681.6

12.26

No drought

M0

26

1984

331.3

-45.43

Moderate drought

M2

27

1985

694.3

14.36

No drought

M0

28

1986

531.5

-12.46

Mild drought

M1

29

1987

399.1

-34.27

Moderate drought

M2

30

1988

410.3

-32.42

Moderate drought

M2

31

1989

317.5

-47.71

Moderate drought

M2

32

1991

561

-7.60

Mild drought

M1

33

1992

742

22.21

No drought

M0

34

1993

493

-18.80

Mild drought

M1

35

1994

713

17.44

No drought

M0

36

1995

754.8

24.32

No drought

M0

37

1996

887

46.09

No drought

M0

38

1997

715

17.77

No drought

M0

39

1998

696

14.64

No drought

M0

40

1999

437

-28.02

Moderate drought

M2

41

2000

346.2

-42.98

Moderate drought

M2

42

2001

426.8

-29.70

Moderate drought

M2

43

2002

222.4

-63.37

Severe drought

M3

44

2003

511

-15.83

Mild drought

M1

45

2004

807

32.92

No drought

M0

46

2005

408.6

-32.70

Moderate drought

M2

47

2006

335

-44.82

Moderate drought

M2

48

2007

521

-14.19

Mild drought

M1

49

2008

572

-5.79

Mild drought

M1

50

2009

306

-49.60

Moderate drought

M2

51

2010

659

8.54

No drought

M0

52

2011

660

8.71

No drought

M0

53

2012

1084

78.54

No drought

M0

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Rajpoot and Kumar

Assessment of Environmental Stress as Meteorological Drought Due to Rainfall Variability in Jaipur, Rajasthan
(India)
Table 5: Vegetation Index (NDVI) of surrounding area of Jaipur city
Sl No

1.
2.
3.

Class

Low dense vegetation

Medium dense vegetation
High dense vegetation

Vegetation Index
1990
(Mild drought)
0.09-0.1
0.1-0.2
0.2-0.6

2000 (Di=-42)
(Moderate drought)
0.01-0.05
0.05-0.17
0.17-0.52

2010 (Di=8.4)
(No drought)
0.2-0.3
0.3-0.4
0.4-0.72

Table 6: Annual drought frequency of Jaipur city during 1957 to 2012

No of years (1957 to 2012)
26
11
14
2

%
49
21
26
4

Intensity of drought
No drought
Mild drought
Moderate drought
Severe drought

Monthly rainfall data of Jaipur is not good in the

point of view of agriculture. Monsoonal months are
rich of precipitation and rain water harvesting is used
for pre-sowing and crop saving irrigation in
succeeding Rabi season (Bhadoria et al., 2013). Pre
monsoon and monsoon season is good and have
drought frequently 34 and 3 respectively. Post
monsoon is suffering from drought. Annual rainfall
data shows that 70-% year having the normal rainfall
( 25 % deviation from mean rainfall). Annual
drought intensities show that about one decade has no
to mild drought (good rainfall) and adjacent decade
suffered by moderate to severe drought (rainfall
deficit) (Fig. 1). The district witness almost one
drought decade and adjacent high rainfall decade.
Normalized Differentiation Vegetation index
(NDVI) is prepared using LANDSAT data that clearly
shows the impact of rainfall variability. In April 1990
vegetation is classify in three distinct classes
according to the thickness of canopy as Low dense
vegetation, medium dense vegetation and high dense
vegetation. Low dense vegetation acquired 0.09 to 0.1
NDVI value. Medium dense vegetation acquires 0.1 to
0.2 and high dense vegetation is 0.2 to 0.6. Canopy
thickness is decreased and low dense vegetation
acquires 0.01 to 0.05, medium dense is 0.05 to 0.17
and high dense vegetation is 0.17-0.52 in April 2000
as moderate drought year. In 2010, canopy thickness
is increased as Low, medium and high dense
vegetation acquired 0.2 to 0.3, 0.3 to 0.4 and 0.4 to
0.72 respectably as no drought year (Table 6).

Code
M0
M1
M2
M3

(canopy thickness) is clearly showing the impact of

drought. Annual drought intensity shows that about
one decade has no to mild drought (good rainfall) and
adjacent decade suffered by moderate to severe
drought (rainfall deficit). So it is suggested that rain
water harvesting must be planned to take use in offmonsoon season.
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4. CONCLUSION
For the analysis of meteorological drought, monthly,
seasonal & annual rainfall data and NDVI image is
used. Monthly, seasonal and annual drought analysis
of Jaipur shows that monthly rainfall is not good
specify for Rabi season. It is good for rainfed crops.
Seasonal rainfall is good in pre-monsoon and
monsoon season. Post monsoon season is suffering
from drought. Annual rainfall is quite good and 70-%
years having normal rainfall. Vegetation thickness

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Assessment of Environmental Stress as Meteorological Drought Due to Rainfall Variability in Jaipur, Rajasthan
(India)

Pushpendra Singh Rajpoot is a Ph.D candidate in Remote Sensing & GIS at the Faculty of Science
& Environmental Science, Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodaya Vishwavidyalaya, Chitrakoot
Madhya Pradesh, India. He obtained degree in Master of Science in Remote Sensing & GIS from
Jiwaji University Gwalior, M.P. in 2010. His current research is focuses on Assessment and
Management of Water Resources in Datia District, Madhya Pradesh, India. Till date, he has
published several scientific articles related to Remote Sensing field.

Dr Ajay Kumar is a Associate Professor in Geology Deppt. at the Faculty of Science &
Environmental Science, Mahatma Gandhi Chitrakoot Gramodaya Vishwavidyalaya, Chitrakoot
Madhya Pradesh, India . Dr. Ajay Kumar received his Ph.D in engineering geology from University
Dr. Hari Singh Gour Vishwavidyalaya Sagar Madhya Pradesh, India. He has published many
refereed articles in professional journals/proceedings.

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